Trailer Trash (Apatow's Gals Edition)

If you read this blog regularly (and who doesn’t?) then you know I am a fan of the gone-but-not-forgotten television series Freaks and Geeks. For proof, all you need to do is scroll down a few inches on my homepage and you’ll be able to find my latest post entirely devoted to a single episode of the series. I’m that kind of person.

My admiration of Freaks and Geeks is the chief reason I am so excited for Bridesmaids, an upcoming comedy that would seem to be anything other than my cup of tea. It’s about bridesmaids, after all. However, it’s not the subject matter that peaks my interest, but it is instead the people behind it. Bridesmaids is directed by Paul Feig (who created Freaks and Geeks) and it is produced by Hollywood comedy giant Judd Apatow (who executive produced Freaks and Geeks). It’s intriguing that these two would choose to reunite for a film like this, but the fact that they have excites me to no end.

The trailer itself is certainly promising, but more reassuring is the buzz that has come out after its recent screening at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. One of the more glowing reviews comes from Peter Sciretta of /Film, who says the following:

Confident, a mix of laugh-out-loud funny, smart, raunchy, and heartbreaking. Bridesmaids is a homerun. Hopefully it will become a box office hit and inspire Hollywood to expand their classification of what a “chick flick” can be and strive for something more. We talk a lot about genre and conventions, but none of that really matters when you have a great movie.

Also notable is the application of the Apatow formula to a film driven by female characters. Apatow’s films, whether he’s produced them, written them or directed them, have occasionally been criticized for their depiction of women, and Bridesmaids seems to be an attempt to prove that the Apatow machine can produce a comedy that focuses on the fairer sex rather than raunchy man-children. Audiences will have to wait until May to find out for sure, but based on the people involved there’s reason to be optimistic.